diff --git a/lib/WebGUI/Asset/Wobject/Survey/ResponseJSON.pm b/lib/WebGUI/Asset/Wobject/Survey/ResponseJSON.pm
index b6d187c6b..a18f49ed1 100644
--- a/lib/WebGUI/Asset/Wobject/Survey/ResponseJSON.pm
+++ b/lib/WebGUI/Asset/Wobject/Survey/ResponseJSON.pm
@@ -649,58 +649,30 @@ indicates that we should branch.
 The gotoExpression.
 
 A gotoExpression is a string representing a list of expressions (one per line) of the form:
+
  target: expression
  target: expression
  ...
 
 This subroutine iterates through the list, processing each line and, all things being
 well, evaluates the expression. The first expression to evaluate to true triggers a
-call to goto($target).
+call to L<"processGoto">.
 
-The expression is a simple subset of the formula language used in spreadsheet programs 
-such as Excel, OpenOffice, Google Docs etc..
+The expression should be valid perl. Any section/question variables that you refer to
+should be written as $var, as if your perl code had access to that variable. In reality,
+those variables don't exist - they're substituted in via L<"parseGotoExpression"> and 
+then the expression is evaluated in a safe compartment.
 
 Here is an example using section variables S1 and S2 as jump targets and question 
 variables Q1-3 in the expression. It jumps to S1 if the user's answer to Q1 has a value 
 of 3, jumps to S2 if Q2 + Q3 < 10, and otherwise doesn't branch at all (the default).
-S1: Q1 = 3
-S2: Q2 + Q3 < 10
 
-Arguments are evaluated as follows:
+ S1: $Q1 == 3
+ S2: $Q2 + $Q3 < 10
 
-Numeric arguments evaluate as numbers
-
-=over 4
-
-=item * No support for strings (and hence no string matching)
-
-=item * Question variable names (e.g. Q1) evaluate to the numeric value associated with 
-user's answer to that question, or undefined if the user has not answered that question
-
-=back
-
-Binary comparisons operators: = != < <= >= >
-
-=over 4
-
-=item * return boolean values based on perl's equivalent numeric comparison operators
-
-=back
-
-Simple math operators: + - * /
-
-=over 4
-
-=item * return numeric values
-
-=back
-
-Later we may add Boolean operators: AND( x; y; z; ... ), OR( x; y; z; ... ), NOT( x ), with args separated by 
-semicolons (presumably because spreadsheet formulas use commas to indicate cell ranges)
-
-Later still you may be able to say AVG(section1) or SUM(section3) and have those functions automatically 
-compute their result over the set of all questions in the given section.
-But for now those things can be done manually using the limited subset defined.
+You can do advanced branching by creating your own variables within the expression, for
+example, to branch when the average of 3 questions is greater than 5: 
+ S1: $avg = ($Q1 + $Q2 + $Q3) / 3; $avg > 5   
 
 =cut
 
@@ -793,12 +765,7 @@ Uses the following simple strategy:
 First, parse the expression as:
  target: expression
 
-Replace each questionName with its response value (from the $responses hashref)
-
-Massage the expression into valid perl
-
-Check that only valid tokens remain. This last step ensures that any invalid questionNames in
-the expression generate an error because our list of valid tokens doesn't include a-z
+Replace each "$questionName" with its response value (from the $responses hashref)
 
 =cut
 
@@ -808,9 +775,6 @@ sub parseGotoExpression {
 
     $self->session->log->debug("Parsing gotoExpression: $expression");
 
-    # Valid gotoExpression tokens are..
-    my $tokens = qr{\s|[-0-9=!<>+*/.()&|:?]};
-
     my ( $target, $rest ) = $expression =~ /\s* ([^:]+?) \s* : \s* (.*)/x;
 
     $self->session->log->debug("Parsed as Target: [$target], Expression: [$rest]");
@@ -825,21 +789,9 @@ sub parseGotoExpression {
         return;
     }
     
-    # convert 'and' and 'or' to '&&' and '||'
-    $rest =~ s/\band\b/&&/ig;
-    $rest =~ s/\bor\b/||/ig;
-    
-    # Replace each questionName with its response value
+    # Replace each "$questionName" with its response value
     while ( my ( $questionName, $response ) = each %{$responses} ) {
-        $rest =~ s/$questionName/$response/g;
-    }
-
-    # convert '=' to '==' but don't touch '!=', '<=' or '>='
-    $rest =~ s/(?<![!<>])=(?!=)/==/g;
-
-    if ( $rest !~ /^$tokens+$/ ) {
-        $self->session->log->warn("Contains invalid tokens: $rest");
-        return;
+        $rest =~ s/\$$questionName/$response/g;
     }
 
     $self->session->log->debug("Processed as: $rest");
diff --git a/t/Asset/Wobject/Survey/ResponseJSON.t b/t/Asset/Wobject/Survey/ResponseJSON.t
index a9a25ebfe..9df8616bf 100644
--- a/t/Asset/Wobject/Survey/ResponseJSON.t
+++ b/t/Asset/Wobject/Survey/ResponseJSON.t
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ my $session = WebGUI::Test->session;
 
 #----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Tests
-my $tests = 87;
+my $tests = 90;
 plan tests => $tests + 1;
 
 #----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -339,25 +339,20 @@ cmp_deeply($rJSON->parseGotoExpression('t1: 1'),
     { target => 't1', expression => '1'}, 'works for simple numeric expression');
 cmp_deeply($rJSON->parseGotoExpression('t1: 1 - 23 + 456 * (78 / 9.0)'),
     { target => 't1', expression => '1 - 23 + 456 * (78 / 9.0)'}, 'works for expression using all algebraic tokens');
-is($rJSON->parseGotoExpression('t1: 1 + $'), undef, '.. but disallows expression containing non-whitelisted token');
-cmp_deeply($rJSON->parseGotoExpression('t1: 1 = 3'),
-    { target => 't1', expression => '1 == 3'}, 'converts single = to ==');
 cmp_deeply($rJSON->parseGotoExpression('t1: 1 != 3 <= 4 >= 5'),
-    { target => 't1', expression => '1 != 3 <= 4 >= 5'}, q{..but doesn't mess with other ops containing =});
-cmp_deeply($rJSON->parseGotoExpression('t1: q1 + q2 * q3 - 4', { q1 => 11, q2 => 22, q3 => 33}),
+    { target => 't1', expression => '1 != 3 <= 4 >= 5'}, q{..works with other ops too});
+cmp_deeply($rJSON->parseGotoExpression('t1: $q1 + $q2 * $q3 - 4', { q1 => 11, q2 => 22, q3 => 33}),
     { target => 't1', expression => '11 + 22 * 33 - 4'}, 'substitues q for value');
-cmp_deeply($rJSON->parseGotoExpression('t1: a silly var name * 10 + another var name', { 'a silly var name' => 345, 'another var name' => 456}),
+cmp_deeply($rJSON->parseGotoExpression('t1: $a silly var name * 10 + $another var name', { 'a silly var name' => 345, 'another var name' => 456}),
     { target => 't1', expression => '345 * 10 + 456'}, '..it even works for vars with spaces in their names');
-is($rJSON->parseGotoExpression('t1: qX + 3', { q1 => '7'}),
-    undef, q{..but doesn't like invalid var names});
-cmp_deeply($rJSON->parseGotoExpression('t1: (A < 4) AND (B < 4)', { A => 2, B => 3}),
-    { target => 't1', expression => '(2 < 4) && (3 < 4)'}, 'Boolean AND');
-cmp_deeply($rJSON->parseGotoExpression('t1: (A < 4) OR (B < 4)', { A => 2, B => 3}),
-    { target => 't1', expression => '(2 < 4) || (3 < 4)'}, 'Boolean OR');
+cmp_deeply($rJSON->parseGotoExpression('t1: ($A < 4) and ($B < 4) or ($B > 6) && 1 || 1', { A => 2, B => 3}),
+    { target => 't1', expression => '(2 < 4) and (3 < 4) or (3 > 6) && 1 || 1'}, 'Boolean expressions ok');
+cmp_deeply($rJSON->parseGotoExpression('t1: $a = 1; $a++; $a > 1'),
+    { target => 't1', expression => '$a = 1; $a++; $a > 1'}, 'Assignment and compound statements ok too');
 
 ####################################################
 #
-# gotoExpression
+# processGotoExpression
 #
 ####################################################
 
@@ -373,34 +368,40 @@ $rJSON->recordResponses({
     '1-0-0comment' => 'Section 1, question 0, answer 0 comment',
 });
 is($rJSON->processGotoExpression('blah-dee-blah-blah'), undef, 'invalid gotoExpression is false');
-ok($rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: s1q0 = 3'), '3 == 3 is true');
-ok(!$rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: s1q0 = 4'), '3 == 4 is false');
-ok($rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: s1q0 != 2'), '3 != 2 is true');
-ok(!$rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: s1q0 != 3'), '3 != 3 is false');
-ok($rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: s1q0 > 2'), '3 > 2 is true');
-ok($rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: s1q0 < 4'), '3 < 2 is true');
-ok(!$rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: s1q0 >= 4'), '3 >= 4 is false');
-ok(!$rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: s1q0 <= 2'), '3 <= 2 is false');
-ok(!$rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: s1q0 < 2 or s1q0 < 1'), '3 < 2 || 3 < 1 is false');
-ok($rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: s1q0 < 2 or s1q0 < 5'), '3 < 2 || 3 < 5 is true');
-ok(!$rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: s1q0 = 4 and 1 = 1'), '3 == 4 && 1 == 1 is false');
-ok($rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: s1q0 = 3 and 1 = 1'), '3 == 3 && 1 == 1 is true');
-ok(!$rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: (s1q0 > 1 ? 10 : 11) = 11'), '(3 > 1 ? 10 : 11) == 11 is false');
-ok($rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: (s1q0 > 1 ? 10 : 11) = 10'), '(3 > 1 ? 10 : 11) == 10 is true');
+ok($rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: $s1q0 == 3'), '3 == 3 is true');
+ok(!$rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: $s1q0 == 4'), '3 == 4 is false');
+ok($rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: $s1q0 != 2'), '3 != 2 is true');
+ok(!$rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: $s1q0 != 3'), '3 != 3 is false');
+ok($rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: $s1q0 > 2'), '3 > 2 is true');
+ok($rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: $s1q0 < 4'), '3 < 2 is true');
+ok(!$rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: $s1q0 >= 4'), '3 >= 4 is false');
+ok(!$rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: $s1q0 <= 2'), '3 <= 2 is false');
+ok(!$rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: $s1q0 < 2 or $s1q0 < 1'), '3 < 2 || 3 < 1 is false');
+ok($rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: $s1q0 < 2 or $s1q0 < 5'), '3 < 2 || 3 < 5 is true');
+ok(!$rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: $s1q0 == 4 and 1 == 1'), '3 == 4 && 1 == 1 is false');
+ok($rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: $s1q0 == 3 and 1 == 1'), '3 == 3 && 1 == 1 is true');
+ok(!$rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: ($s1q0 > 1 ? 10 : 11) == 11'), '(3 > 1 ? 10 : 11) == 11 is false');
+ok($rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: ($s1q0 > 1 ? 10 : 11) == 10'), '(3 > 1 ? 10 : 11) == 10 is true');
+ok($rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: $a=1; $a++; $a++; $a *= 2; $a == 6'), 'Assignment and compound statements ok');
+ok(!$rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: $a=1; $a++; $a++; $a *= 2; $a == 7'), '..negative ones too');
+ok($rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: @a = (1..10); $a[0] == 1 && @a == 10'), 'arrays work too');
+ok($rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: if ($s1q0 == 3) { 1 } else { 0 }'), 'if statements work');
+ok(!$rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: if (time) { 1 } else { 1 }'), 'time and other things not allowed');
+ok($rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: $q2 = 5; $avg = ($s1q0 + $q2) / 2; $avg == 4'), 'look ma, averages!');
 
-cmp_deeply($rJSON->processGotoExpression(<<"END_EXPRESSION"), {target => 's2', expression => '3 == 3'}, 'first true expression wins');
-s0: s1q0 <= 2
-s2: s1q0 = 3
+cmp_deeply($rJSON->processGotoExpression(<<'END_EXPRESSION'), {target => 's2', expression => '3 == 3'}, 'first true expression wins');
+s0: $s1q0 <= 2
+s2: $s1q0 == 3
 END_EXPRESSION
 
-ok(!$rJSON->processGotoExpression(<<"END_EXPRESSION"), 'but multiple false expressions still false');
-s0: s1q0 <= 2
-s2: s1q0 = 345
+ok(!$rJSON->processGotoExpression(<<'END_EXPRESSION'), 'but multiple false expressions still false');
+s0: $s1q0 <= 2
+s2: $s1q0 == 345
 END_EXPRESSION
 
-$rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: s1q0 = 3');
+$rJSON->processGotoExpression('s0: $s1q0 == 3');
 is($rJSON->lastResponse(), -1, '.. lastResponse changed to -1 due to processGoto(s0)');
-$rJSON->processGotoExpression('s2: s1q0 = 3');
+$rJSON->processGotoExpression('s2: $s1q0 == 3');
 is($rJSON->lastResponse(), 4, '.. lastResponse changed to 4 due to processGoto(s2)');
 
 $rJSON->responses({});